and he even attributed the deed to that very created being. Had this person truly been Allah, Lord of all worlds, united with human flesh, Jeremiah—and every other prophet—would have stated that fact plainly and decisively, leaving no room for excuse. They would not have relied on expressions that are either explicitly or outwardly contrary to such a claim, or that are so vague they convey nothing of the sort.
It is well known that foretelling the coming of a prophet is an ordinary and conceivable matter; yet even then the prophets supply such clear glad tidings and unmistakable proofs as to dispel every doubt. Announcing that the Lord Himself will come, indwell, or unite with a human body, however, is
– either impossible, altogether inconceivable, as the majority of rational people declare, saying that plain reason judges it to be impossible;
– or, if some insist it is possible, that possibility is hidden from most minds, is without precedent, and the Lord’s personal advent would far surpass the coming of any messenger or prophet—especially if His coming took the form of union with a man through whom no sign unique to divinity appeared. In fact, nothing issued from him except what had already appeared at the hands of other prophets, whether equal to or greater than his.
When Allah, exalted is He, spoke to Moses—while Moses did not see Him and there was no union with Moses or anyone else—He nevertheless displayed, in confirmation of that encounter and of Moses’ prophethood, signs the like of which never appeared, nor anything close to them, through the Messiah.
So if Allah Himself had united with a human body, the prophets would have proclaimed it in clear, unequivocal language that admits no interpretation, and the Lord would have revealed, on account of that union, signs never shown at the hands of any messenger or prophet. How, then, when the prophets